MILESTONE man Sam Triffitt led Malton & Norton RUFC to a 21-17 victory over Morley in his 300th first team appearance.

Triffitt, leading the team for the seventh successive season, has spent 14 years at The Gannock and his team marked the occasion in style in North One East.

Malton started well with a clean catch from their own kick off but a called move failed after a breakdown in communication in midfield resulted in 50 metres lost territory.

Morley pressured the Malton line but good tackling kept them at bay. However on nine minutes following two missed touch kicks the Morley number seven crossed after recycled ball for a seven-pointer.

Malton's penalty count was already creeping up after 10 minutes in part due to a no-nonsense referee, who was very quick on his whistle at the breakdown.

On 15 minutes a high ball from Chris Inman collected by Will Bell resulted in a penalty to Malton on 35 metres, changed to 25 following Morley backchat.

The shot at goal just drifted wide and that seemed to affect Malton's confidence as Morley took control of proceedings with 70 per cent possession and territory.

The few incursions into the Morley half were spoiled by basic errors, holding on to the ball twice in two minutes resulting in a seven-pointer on 29 minutes for the Morley number 11.

Malton lost Sean Emms to a head knock, with the evergreen Andy Mitchell moving to lock and the plucky George Barker coming on to the flank.

Morley scored again on 37 minutes following a side entry decision, the three points taking the half-time score to 17-0 in the confident West Yorkshire outfit's favour.

Malton then set about a Morley team that had been dominant in most phases of the game. Whether it was Malton waking up or Morley complacency, the dominance disappeared and Malton drove to the visitor's line and earned a scrum.

They put the shove on and, with Triffitt controlling the ball at his feet, a simple release followed for Inman to dart over with Paul Angus adding two points from wide out.

Malton now carried the game to Morley in a reversal of the first half and with Ali Fothergill linking up with his forwards to add momentum they ignored a penalty near the sticks on 58 minutes.

They took the scrum and a pick up from the base by Triffitt put the lurking Ali Fothergill in for a seven-pointer.

Twelve minutes later Malton broke out from their 22 metre area up to the opposition 22 metre line and put a penalty award into touch.

Keeping possession, Malton put the squeeze on Morley and, with Fothergill again adding his bulk in the ensuing phases to the forward effort, the ball came back to James Bulmer. He sold an outrageous dummy to go over the line, Angus again adding the two points to give Malton a four-point lead.

Nathan Pratt now gave way to youngster Adam Finlinson for his first senior appearance.

Malton repelled a concerted effort by the visitors in the closing minutes to register a well earned four league points, with all 18 players deserving the plaudits for the second-half performance.

The win moved Malton up one place to eighth in the table in a league that is proving to be flexible from top to bottom.

Next week, Malton travel to local rivals Pocklington.

Malton: Ali Fothergill, Nathan Pratt, Will Bell, Vus Dyantjies, Paul Angus, James Bulmer, Chris Inman, Rob Featherstone, Bailey Lamb, Peter Hopkins, Sean Emms, Charlie Read, Andy Mitchell, Matt Bowman, Sam Triffitt (c). Subs: Nick Salisbury, Adam Finlinson, George Barker (all used).